The Freebooters Part 43

"I did not require to see him,"

"But it is different with me."

"Why so?"

"Because I have executed his orders, as they are with me."

"That is true."

"Viva Dios! I was obliged to employ stratagem to induce them to follow me here."

"Why did you not bring them in at once?"

"I should be very sorry to do so, at least for the present. They are cool and steady naval officers, whose smile, under all circ.u.mstances, resembles a grimace, so close do they keep their lips. The free-and-easy manner of our worthy a.s.sociates," he added, "might possibly displease them."

"But when the master arrives?"

"Oh, then the affair will rest with him alone."

At the same moment a sharp whistle was heard outside, and the gamblers sprang up as if they had received an electric shock. Ramirez bent down to the two men.

"Here he is," he said; "I shall be back directly."

"Where are you going?" one of the strangers asked, sharply.

"To join those who are waiting for me."

And winding through the groups, the sailor left the pulqueria unnoticed.

Ramirez had hardly left the room, ere the door was burst open by a violent blow, and a man rushed in. All present took off their hats, as if by common agreement, and bowed respectfully.

We will give, in a few words, a portrait of this new personage, who is destined to play a most important part in this narrative. The stranger seemed to be twenty, or two-and-twenty at the most, though he was probably older; he was slim and delicate, but perfectly proportioned, and all his movements were marked by indescribable grace and n.o.bility.

His beardless face was surrounded by magnificent black ringlets, which escaped in profusion from under his hat, and fell in large cl.u.s.ters on his shoulders.

This man had a lofty and wide forehead, intelligent and pensive, and a deep and well-opened eye, an aquiline nose with flexible nostrils, and a disdainful and mocking lip. All his features made up a strange, but commanding countenance. He might be loved, but he must be feared. His feet and hands were small, and evidenced good breeding. Dressed in the picturesque costume of Mexican campesinos, he wore his rich clothes with inimitable grace and ease.

Who was he?

His best friends, and he counted many such among the men in whose midst he had suddenly appeared, could not say.

In America, especially at the period when our story is laid, it was the easiest thing in the world to conceal one's private existence: an intelligent man suddenly revealed himself, no one caring, whence he came or whither he went--a brilliant meteor, he traced a luminous line on the chaos of the revolutionary struggle, which he illumined by the strange flashes of his extraordinary deeds. Then this man--this unknown hero disappeared as suddenly as he had arisen: night closed in round him, the darkness grew denser and denser, and an impenetrable mystery brooded over his birth and his grave.

The stranger was one of these men. He and the Jaguar were thus placed in an identical situation in the eyes of their partisans; but men live so quickly when the hour for the supreme struggle has struck, that no one attempted to pierce the gloom, and obtain the secret of these two young Chieftains.

The man with whom we are now engaged was commonly called El Alferez by his friends and enemies. This word, which in Spanish literally signifies sub-lieutenant, had become the name of this singular person, which he had accepted, and to which he answered.

Why had this strangely selected t.i.tle been given him? This question, or any other, it is impossible for us to answer--at any rate, for the present.

After taking a haughty and a.s.sured glance at the persons collected in disorderly groups around him, the young man leant against a barrel, and, with affected carelessness, said to the individuals who surrounded him--"Well, my scamps, have you amused yourselves properly?"

A murmur of general satisfaction ran along the ranks.

"Good, my coyotes," he continued, with the same mocking tone; "now, I suppose, you would like to smell a little blood?"

"Yes," these sinister persons answered unanimously.

"Well, console yourselves; I will let you smell it ere long, and in a satisfactory manner. But I do not see Ramirez among you; can he have been so awkward as to get himself hung? Although he has deserved it a long time. I do not think him such a fool as to let himself be apprehended by the spies of the Mexican Government."

These words were uttered in a soft voice, harmoniously modulated, but at the same time sharp and rather shrill.

"I heard my name," said Ramirez, as he appeared in the doorway.

"Yes, I mentioned it. Well, are you alone?"

"No."

"Are they both here?"

"Both."

"That is excellent. Now, if the Jaguar be as true to his word as I am to mine, I answer for success."

"I hold your promise, Senor Alferez," said a man who had entered the room some moments previously.

"Rayo de Dios! You and your comrades are welcome; for, of course, you are not alone."

"I have twenty men, worth a hundred."

"Bravo! I recognise the Jaguar in that."

The latter began laughing.

"They only await a signal from me to come in."

"Let them come, let them come; time is precious, so let us not waste it in trifling."

The Jaguar walked to the door, and threw away the lighted cigarette he held in his hand. The twenty conspirators entered, and ranged themselves silently behind their Chief. Ramirez came in immediately after, followed by the two naval officers.

"All is clearly understood between us, Jaguar?"

"All."

"We act toward each other with all frankness and honesty of purpose?"

"Yes."

"You swear it?"

"Without hesitation, I swear it."